2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for International Relations & National Security in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

International Relations & National Security is the 65th most popular major in the country with 14,762 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, international relations and national security graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $38,051 and had an average of $28,099 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 373 international relations and national security graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,500 and $26,096 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 89 international relations and national security graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in international relations and national security. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality international relations and national security programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the international relations and national security program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank International Relations & National Security Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for International Relations & National Security in Illinois

#1

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$19,760 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$49,709 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. DePaul is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 23 masters’s international relations degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at DePaul, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best International Relations & National Security Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul are $19,760, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about International Relations & National Security at DePaul University

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$61,548 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$52,107 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value International Relations Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 66 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best International Relations & National Security Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UChicago are $61,548.

Read more about International Relations & National Security at University of Chicago

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for International Relations & National Security in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for International Relations & National Security

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to RepubFan12.

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